Monday Mornings with Madison

May 20, 2013

It’s Showtime… Almost!

Issue #281

Part 1 Preparing to Go to the Show

Every serious profession in the world has a multitude of trade shows and conferences catering to the sales, marketing, networking and professional development of its members. While there are always local, regional and state shows, each national trade association has one monster annual show that is not to be missed. For mortgage bankers, the big show to attend each year is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Annual Convention, which this year will be held in late October in DC celebrating their 100th Conference. For homebuilders, the go-to show each year is the enormous National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders Show, which is held in Las Vegas in January or February each year. For CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs offers national accounting conferences for each industry, including the AICPA’s National Real Estate Show. And, for shopping center owners and retailers, there are few shows bigger than the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECON Show, currently under way in Las Vegas. Continue reading →

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May 13, 2013

Six-Star Service – Part 2

Issue #280

Achieving and Maintaining Six-Star Service

When it comes to service, customers can easily distinguish poor service from good service. Poor service is when a customer is forced to wait 20 minutes in a long line to pay for goods or services at the store. Good service is when the store manager directs staff to open as many registers as needed to ensure no customer waits more than three to five minutes to pay for a purchase. Poor service is when an auto service center quotes that it will take two hours to change the brakes on a car but actually takes four hours to complete the job. Good service is when the service center’s manager admits up front that it is going take three to four hours to complete the job and offers other appointment times that would minimize the customer’s wait time. The difference between bad service and good is as obvious as night and day. Continue reading →

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May 6, 2013

Six-Star Service

Issue #279

Part 1: How Is Good Service Defined?

Delivering consistently high-quality service to customers is the biggest challenge for many businesses. Some industries are rife with customer service complaints. In fact, in some industries, certain company names have become synonymous with bad service. For example, recently, USA Today published a list of nine retailers delivering the worst customer service. The ranking (March, 2013) was based on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (which measures customer satisfaction with retailers). Companies that scored the worst in customer satisfaction included Safeway (which has been at the bottom of the ASCI data for 10 years in a row), Walgreens, Netflix, TJX (which owns TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls), The Gap, Sears, CVS, Supervalu and Walmart. Of course, retailers are not alone in the struggle to delivery consistently good service. The travel industry — including airlines, cruise ships and hotel chains – also regularly makes the news for its flagrant disregard for its customer’s needs. Continue reading →

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April 29, 2013

Servicing the Internal Customer

Issue #278

Customer service is a topic that strikes a chord (often a sour note) with many. Some industries, such as air travel and cable / internet providers, are riddled with complaints about poor customer service. Their reputations for mistreating customers are the stuff of nightmarish legends. Other industries or companies are known for their excellent customer service. Apple. Ritz Carlton. Mercedes Benz. These companies consistently provide customers with five-star service. In fact, Ritz Carlton prides itself on delivering six-star service! Regardless of what a company does, builds, makes or provides, the ability to meet the needs of the client or customer is key. Continue reading →

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April 22, 2013

Why Multitasking Actually Reduces Employee Productivity and Precision

Issue #277

Walk down any busy street in America and you are likely to see people crossing the street while texting. In any break room, you’ll see people eating lunch while using their smart phones to check social media sites. In most offices, you’ll see people having phone conversations with colleagues or customers while simultaneously surfing the web or writing an email. Some might even have two different cell phones, one to each ear, while talking to yet a third person in person. (This is not an urban legend. I’ve witnessed it.) Continue reading →

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April 15, 2013

Is Pride A Quality or Flaw at Work?

Issue #276

Pride is one of those puzzling traits that is seen at times as a positive and sometimes as a negative. On the one hand, we are encouraged to be proud of our accomplishments. Training seminars tout the need to take pride in the work we do. From a very young age, we are told that we should be proud to be Americans. We are expected to be proud of our accomplishments and of the accomplishments of our children and family. We hear things like: “Show some pride!” “Stand Up for yourself!” “Walk tall!” “Don’t be a doormat!” “Be proud of who you are!” “Stick out your chest and hold your head high!” Continue reading →

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March 25, 2013

The Need To Lead

Issue #274

Much has been written and said about management and leadership over the last century. The question most often posed is whether there is a difference between managing and leading. The simple answer is yes. But separating the two is not so simple. More importantly, in today’s world, not only is it nearly impossible to separate management from leadership, it isn’t even practical or good. Continue reading →

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March 18, 2013

Employee Loyalty: A Balancing Act Between Workplace Demands and Employee Needs – Part 2

Issue #273

Companies and their management are constantly weighing the needs of the business with the wishes of employees. It is a balancing act. When done well, a company is able to provide enough flexibility, incentives, inspiration and consideration for the well being of its employees while still ensuring the needs of the business are met. When companies such as Best Buy or Yahoo are struggling, however, management finds itself in the difficult position of having to make sharp adjustments to policies in order to achieve balance again. Those adjustments can often be difficult to swallow for the organization’s employees. In the case of Yahoo, for example, their policy rescinding remote employees primarily impacted about 200 workers employed to work from home full time. The decision was met with a huge outcry internally and a great deal of criticism externally. What Yahoo may have gained in improving innovation and collaboration may ultimately be lost in employee loyalty and morale. That remains to be seen. Continue reading →

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March 11, 2013

Employee Loyalty: A Balancing Act Between Workplace Demands and Employee Needs – Part 1

Issue #272

Across every industry, companies today are competing to hire and retain employees with the strongest skills. While the unemployment rate may still be high, most companies will attest that there is a shortage of top talent. According to Forbes, some of the most sought-after skills today include: critical thinking, complex problem solving, judgment/decision making, active listening, computer, math, operations and systems analysis, monitoring/ assessment, programming, sales and marketing. Anyone with a combination of these skills — the top skills desired for the most in-demand jobs in 2013 — is considered highly valuable. To attract and retain the most talented workers, many employers have offered workplace accommodations that cater to employees’ needs including working remotely, flexible schedules, relaxed work attire, etc. These accommodations are meant to meet needs and thus increase employee loyalty. After all, without employee loyalty, employers have to fill the same positions over and over as the most skilled employees are hired, work for a short time, and then leave. Continue reading →

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